I was saved by a Hummingbird Har doctor after collapsing from exhaustion.
Cowardly Ear visited me, worried. I was too busy trying to survive that I left her behind.
“For now, I’m still alive. Thank you. I’m sorry for leaving you.”
“No, um, then Ms. Cecilia and the others helped me, I’m sorry for saying I’d come with you.”
She lowered her head as I said that with a joke. What is she saying? I ran away, leaving her behind in this dangerous situation with Nigpyura right in front of me. I’m the one who should be apologizing. After all that trouble, I didn’t even protect her.
“It worked out because you were brave that time. Having good ears is convenient.”
“N-no. It’s not like that. My ears are too good, that’s why I wear a hat. I’m always timid and clumsy. Even then, saying I wanted to be somewhere without people was just me being selfish.”
“Don’t say that. Everyone has things they’re not good at. Surely, other people can’t see your world.”
This time, it was truly her ears and courage that saved me. She was so brave that I wondered if ‘timid’ was a lie. She remained calm in the middle of enemy territory.
“I don’t know about your life or what you’ve done before, but I think who you are now is amazing, and I don’t think you’re timid.”
“R-really? No, I tremble every time it thunders. Even though I have a big body, I can’t even be a hunter, and I’m slow. Ehehe, I’m a useless person.”
For some reason, she only lists her own flaws. Well, I can understand that; if I started listing my own flaws, there would be no end to it. Even after traveling this far, I still can’t handle a sword properly, and I hesitate at crucial moments.
But even someone like me has companions who say they like me… Me? What does ‘me’ mean?
“Hey, don’t you think you feel like you *have* to hate yourself?”
“Eh?”
“If you say you like yourself, people might ask why you can accept yourself when you’re full of flaws. You’re afraid of being asked that, aren’t you? Ugh, I can’t explain it well.”
I still have so many things to fix, so how can I possibly say I like myself in this state? Do I think it’s okay to be like this? I feel like I hear those voices, so I end up saying things like ‘someone like me.’ It’s not that I think it’s okay to be like this. But when it comes to leveling up, is it better to fix the self you hate, or to improve the self you like? It’s a matter of mindset.
“Even if you say you’re no good, I wouldn’t know. Maybe you can be useful somewhere else. Your ears have the power and kindness to save lives. And courage, too.”
Cowardly Ear looked surprised, but after a moment, she smiled shyly. However, that smile instantly changed to the look she had in enemy territory.
“Something’s coming. An earthquake?”
“What is it?”
The cave began to shake violently. Dirt fell from the ceiling. A creaking sound echoed from somewhere.
“N-no way, him. Hiroaki, grab the two of them, Pauline, let’s run!”
Cecilia grabbed Pauline and fled. I also grabbed Ryoku and Cowardly Ear and ran. The tremors in the cave grew stronger. When we emerged into the empty room, the refugees were terrified by the disturbance. The Mimizutogake people also fled to the holes they had dug.
Just then, Sharin and her group arrived from the front. I wanted to congratulate them on their safety, but now wasn’t the time for a tearful reunion.
“Arisugawa, this way! You guys run too!”
The Hummingbird Hars, stumbling and falling, fled deeper into the cave. The walls of the empty room began to distort.
“What is this? No, you’re kidding me.”
Thick roots erupted from the dug holes. It was as if they were twisting and crushing the entire underground space. They probably think that if they crush all the hollows, we’ll be squeezed out and revealed.
“Hurry and escape!”
Sharin pulled my arm, and I ran deeper into the cave. Behind us, we could hear the crashing sounds of rooms collapsing. The tree roots grew at an incredible speed and approached us. The empty room collapsed, plunging the surroundings into darkness all at once. The faint light that had been entering was cut off.
Now, Sharin’s eyes were the only thing we could rely on. But even with her night vision, if it became completely dark, she would be unable to see, just like us.
The collapsed ceiling began to fall from above. Sharin suddenly stopped.
“It’s a dead end. Which way is the exit?”
Sharin touched the wall.
“What, damn it, we’re surrounded.”
I couldn’t see anything. All I could hear was the low rumbling of the earth. And the walls were closing in. This suffocating feeling told me we were cornered.
“Damn it, there’s no hole. It’s blocked!”
“Sharin, calm down, there has to be somewhere.”
“There isn’t! There isn’t, I can’t see anything, we’re going to be buried alive!”
Sharin’s rough hands grabbed both my shoulders. At that moment, another hand touched my back. A cold hand with hard claws. A long body coiled around me.
